Resource management system

ABSTRACT

A resource management system that includes at least one managed computing system including a plurality of hierarchal computer resources and a server computing system that is coupled to the at least one managed computing system through a network. The server computing system includes a broker in communication with a plurality of providers. The broker is configured to receive a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) request for a first resource of the plurality of hierarchal computer resources included in the at least one managed computing system. The URI request includes a resource path that identifies the first resource by a hierarchy of a plurality of collections. The broker is configured to determine a last collection in the hierarchy of the plurality of collections that matches a first provider of the plurality of providers, and forward the request directly to the first provider such that the first provider processes the URI request.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates generally to information handlingsystems, and more particularly to a resource management system forrouting Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) requests from informationhandling systems.

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individualsand businesses seek additional ways to process and store information.One option available to users is information handling systems. Aninformation handling system generally processes, compiles, stores,and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or otherpurposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of theinformation. Because technology and information handling needs andrequirements vary between different users or applications, informationhandling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled,how the information is handled, how much information is processed,stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the informationmay be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in informationhandling systems allow for information handling systems to be general orconfigured for a specific user or specific use such as financialtransaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage,or global communications. In addition, information handling systems mayinclude a variety of hardware and software components that may beconfigured to process, store, and communicate information and mayinclude one or more computer systems, data storage systems, andnetworking systems.

Information handling systems include a multitude of systems, subsystems,resources, resource settings and data, and other hardware and softwarethat generates useful information and requires management. Often suchmanagement of information handling systems is performed remotely from aclient computing system. Emerging requirements for a modern systemmanagement Application Program Interface (API) include beingRepresentational State Transfer (REST) based via, for example,utilization of the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) Redfishstandard while leveraging open source software (e.g., Apache web serversoftware) in the implementation. Such implementations typically includeweb servers that employ brokers that utilize a static mapping mechanism(often in the form of a static file) to route Uniform ResourceIdentifier (URI) requests to providers, which may be provided by plugincode that performs the processing of the URI request. REST-based systemmanagement APIs use the concepts of collections, where members ofcollections are resources that are identified by a specific URI path. Amember of a collection may be included in a collection whose othermembers may be included in other collections, and so on, creating ahierarchical-collections-based URI path. It has been found that existingopen source infrastructure methodologies for statically mapping URIpaths to members do not handle the notion of hierarchical collectionsadequately. Additionally, the members of a collection can dynamicallychange, creating further complications to the static mapping of URIpaths to members. As such, current resource management systems requireproviders of topmost collections to be particularly complex, as thoseproviders must be configured to handle all sub-collections and dynamicmembers, and this complexity introduces a barrier to modularity androbustness in the implementation.

Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved resourcemanagement system.

SUMMARY

According to one embodiment, an Information Handling System (IHS)includes a communication system; a processing system that is coupled tothe communication system; and a memory system that is coupled to theprocessing system and that includes instructions that, when executed bythe processing system, cause the processing system to provide amanagement engine that includes a broker and a plurality of providers,wherein the broker is configured to: receive a Uniform ResourceIdentifier (URI) request for a first resource of a plurality ofhierarchal computer resources included in the at least one managedcomputing system, wherein the URI request includes a resource path thatidentifies the first resource by a hierarchy of a plurality ofcollections; determine a last collection in the hierarchy of theplurality of collections that matches a first provider of the pluralityof providers; and forward the request directly to the first providersuch that the first provider processes the URI request.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of an informationhandling system.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of a resourcemanagement system.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of a clientcomputing device of the resource management system of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of a servercomputing system of the resource management system of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a method forrouting Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) requests by the servercomputing system of FIGS. 2 and 4.

FIG. 6 is an example of a URI included in a URI request.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a resource map illustrating an embodimentof a hierarchy of resources provided by the managed computing systems ofFIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

For purposes of this disclosure, an information handling system mayinclude any instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operableto compute, calculate, determine, classify, process, transmit, receive,retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, communicate, manifest,detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information,intelligence, or data for business, scientific, control, or otherpurposes. For example, an information handling system may be a personalcomputer (e.g., desktop or laptop), tablet computer, mobile device(e.g., personal digital assistant (PDA) or smart phone), server (e.g.,blade server or rack server), a network storage device, or any othersuitable device and may vary in size, shape, performance, functionality,and price. The information handling system may include random accessmemory (RAM), one or more processing resources such as a centralprocessing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic, ROM, and/orother types of nonvolatile memory. Additional components of theinformation handling system may include one or more disk drives, one ormore network ports for communicating with external devices as well asvarious input and output (I/O) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse,touchscreen and/or a video display. The information handling system mayalso include one or more buses operable to transmit communicationsbetween the various hardware components.

In one embodiment, IHS 100, FIG. 1, includes a processor 102, which isconnected to a bus 104. Bus 104 serves as a connection between processor102 and other components of IHS 100. An input device 106 is coupled toprocessor 102 to provide input to processor 102. Examples of inputdevices may include keyboards, touchscreens, pointing devices such asmouses, trackballs, and trackpads, and/or a variety of other inputdevices known in the art. Programs and data are stored on a mass storagedevice 108, which is coupled to processor 102. Examples of mass storagedevices may include hard discs, optical disks, magneto-optical discs,solid-state storage devices, and/or a variety other mass storage devicesknown in the art. IHS 100 further includes a display 110, which iscoupled to processor 102 by a video controller 112. A system memory 114is coupled to processor 102 to provide the processor with fast storageto facilitate execution of computer programs by processor 102. Examplesof system memory may include random access memory (RAM) devices such asdynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), solid state memorydevices, and/or a variety of other memory devices known in the art. Inan embodiment, a chassis 116 houses some or all of the components of IHS100. It should be understood that other buses and intermediate circuitscan be deployed between the components described above and processor 102to facilitate interconnection between the components and the processor102.

Referring now to FIG. 2, an embodiment of a resource management system200 is illustrated. The resource management system 200 includes a clientcomputing device 202 which may be the IHS 100 discussed above withreference to FIG. 1 and/or include some or all of the components of theIHS 100. For example, the client computing device 202 may be a servercomputing device, a desktop computing device, a laptop/notebookcomputing device, a tablet computing device, a mobile phone, and/or avariety of other computing devices known in the art. The resourcemanagement system 200 also includes a server computing system 204 thatincludes one or more server computing devices which may be provided bythe IHS 100 discussed above with reference to FIG. 1 and/or include someor all of the components of the IHS 100. Furthermore, the resourcemanagement system 200 includes a network 206 that couples the clientcomputing device 202 to the server computing system 204. In anembodiment, the network 206 may include a local area network (LAN), theInternet, and/or a variety of other networks known in the art. In theillustrated embodiment, the network 206 may couple the client computingdevice 202 to the server computing system 204 and a plurality of managedcomputing systems 208, 210, and 212. However, in other embodiments, anyor all of the managed computing system 208-212 may be coupled directlyto the server computing system 204 and may communicate with the clientcomputing device 202 through the server computing system 204 and via thenetwork 206.

Any or all of the managed computing system 208-212 may be the IHS 100discussed above with reference to FIG. 1 and/or include some or all ofthe components of the IHS 100. In specific embodiments discussed belowthe managed computing systems 208-212 are described as includingservers, rack subsystems, and/or resources within a chassis, althoughother computing systems (e.g., desktop computing devices,laptop/notebook computing devices, tablet computing devices, networkingdevices, etc.) are envisioned as benefiting from the teachings of thepresent disclosure and thus falling within its scope. In a specificexample, the managed computing systems 208-212 are provided in one ormore datacenters. While a specific embodiment of a resource managementsystem 200 has been illustrated and described, one of skill in the artin possession of the present disclosure will recognize that a widevariety of modification to the resource management system 200 will fallwithin the scope of the present disclosure, including combiningcomponents, modifying components, adding components, removingcomponents, distributing components across multiple chassis, and thelike.

Referring now to FIG. 3, an embodiment of a client computing device 300is illustrated that may be the client computing device 202 discussedabove with reference to FIG. 2. As such, the client computing device 202may be the IHS 100 discussed above with reference to FIG. 1 and/or mayinclude some or all of the components of the IHS 100, and in specificembodiments may include a server computing device, a desktop computingdevice, a laptop/notebook computing device, a tablet computing device, amobile phone, and/or a variety of other computing devices known in theart. The client computing device 300 includes at least one chassis 302that houses the components of the client computing device 300, only someof which are illustrated in FIG. 3. For example, the chassis 302 mayinclude a processing system (not illustrated, but which may include theprocessor 102 discussed above with reference to FIG. 1) and a memorysystem (not illustrated, but which may include the system memory 114discussed above with reference to FIG. 1) that includes instructionsthat, when executed by the processing system, cause the processingsystem to provide a browser engine 304 (e.g., web browser or anysoftware application for retrieving, presenting, and traversinginformation over a network) that is configured to perform the functionsof the browser engines and client computing devices discussed belowincluding, for example, transmitting Uniform Resource Identifier (URI)requests according to the method 500. The chassis 302 also houses acommunication system 306 that is coupled to the browser engine 304(e.g., via a coupling between the communication system 306 and theprocessing system) and that may include a network interface controllers(NIC), a wireless communication device, and/or any other communicationsubsystem that provides for the communication connections between theclient computing device 202/300 and the server computing system 204 toallow for the communications discussed below. The client computingdevice 300 also may include a storage device (not illustrated, but whichmay be the storage device 108 discussed above with reference to FIG. 1)that is coupled to the browser engine 304 (e.g., via a coupling betweenthe storage device and the processing system) and that may storeinformation utilized by the browser engine 304 to provide thefunctionality discussed below. While a specific embodiment of a clientcomputing device 300 has been illustrated and described, one of skill inthe art in possession of the present disclosure will recognize that awide variety of modification to the client computing device 300 thatallows for the functionality discussed below, as well as conventionalfunctionality known in the art, will fall within the scope of thepresent disclosure.

Referring now to FIG. 4, an embodiment of a server computing system 400is illustrated that may be the server computing system 204 discussedabove with reference to FIG. 2. As such, the server computing system 400may be the IHS 100 discussed above with reference to FIG. 1 and/or mayinclude some or all of the components of the IHS 100, and in specificembodiments may include one or more server computing devices. The servercomputing system 400 includes a chassis 402 that houses the componentsof the server computing system 400, only some of which are illustratedin FIG. 4. For example, the chassis 402 may house a processing system(not illustrated, but which may include the processor 102 discussedabove with reference to FIG. 1) and a memory system (not illustrated,but which may include the system memory 114 discussed above withreference to FIG. 1) that includes instructions that, when executed bythe processing system, cause the processing system to provide amanagement engine 404 that is configured to perform the functions of themanagement engines and server computing devices discussed belowincluding, for example, routing and processing a URI request accordingto the method 500. The management engine 404 is a web service (e.g., anApache web service) and may include a broker 410 and a plurality ofproviders 412, 414, 416. Although providers 412, 414, and 416 areillustrated any number of providers may be contemplated. In anembodiment, the broker 410 is an object broker (e.g., an Open DataProtocol Lite (ODataLite) object broker) that maps a resource path in aURI to at least one of the plurality of providers 412-416, which may beprovided by plug-ins that perform the processing of a URI request thatincludes a URI. However, other types of brokers and providers will fallwithin the scope of the present disclosure as well.

The chassis 402 may also house a communication system 408 that iscoupled to the management engine 404 (e.g., via a coupling between thecommunication system 408 and the processing system) and that may includea network interface controllers (NIC), a wireless communication device,and/or any other communication subsystem that provides for thecommunication connections between the client computing device 202/300and/or the managed computing systems 208-212 that allow for thecommunications discussed below. The chassis 402 also may house a storagedevice (not illustrated, but which may be the storage device 108discussed above with reference to FIG. 1) that is coupled to themanagement engine 404 (e.g., via a coupling between the storage deviceand the processing system) and that includes a memory database 406 thatis configured to store mappings of collections to providers (e.g.,providers 412-416) as discussed in further detail below. While aspecific embodiment of a server computing system 400 has beenillustrated and described, one of skill in the art in possession of thepresent disclosure will recognize that a wide variety of modification tothe server computing system 400 that allows the server computing system400 to perform the functionality discussed below, as well asconventional functionality known in the art, will fall within the scopeof the present disclosure.

Referring now to FIG. 5, an embodiment of a method 500 for performingresource management according to URI requests is illustrated. Asdiscussed below, a server computing system may receive a URI requestfrom a client computing device that includes a resource path for aresource of a plurality of hierarchal computer resources included in amanaged computing system. The resource path defines the resource by ahierarchy of a plurality of collections. The server computing systemincludes a management engine having a broker and a plurality ofproviders, and the broker identifies the last collection of thehierarchy of the plurality of collections in the resource path thatmatches one of the plurality of providers, and then forwards the URIrequest to that provider to process the URI request. The method 500allows for the routing of URI requests that include a hierarchy of aplurality of collections to providers that process the request without awhitelist of all URI's in a collection-to-provider mapping file at abroker. Therefore, the broker is offloaded and can be made generic towork on any server computing system. As such, the method 500 allows forprocessing URI requests that include collections whose membersdynamically change, and eliminates the complexity of providers oftopmost collections by relieving those providers from having to handleall sub-collections and dynamic members.

The method 500 begins at block 502 where a Uniform Resource Identifier(URI) request for a first resource of a plurality of hierarchal computerresources included in at least one managed computing system is received.In an embodiment, the URI request includes a resource path thatidentifies the first resource by a hierarchy of a plurality ofcollections. For example, at block 502, the server computing system 400may receive from the client computing device 300 a URI request for afirst resource of a plurality of hierarchal computer resources includedin any one of the managed computing systems 208-212. The servercomputing system 400 includes the management engine 404 that includesthe broker 410 and the plurality of providers 412-416, and themanagement engine 404 may be a Representational State Transfer (REST)based system management Application Program Interface (API). Forexample, the management engine 404 may include a Distributive ManagementTask Force (DMTF) Redfish interface, Apache Web Service, and other RESTbased interfaces known in the art. The broker 410 may serve the URIrequest by loading the appropriate provider of the plurality ofproviders 412, 414, 416. As would be understood by one of skill in theart in possession of the present disclosure, REST based managementsystems communicate over Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) with HTTPmethods (e.g., GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH, etc.) that are used toretrieve webpages and send data to servers. As such, the URI request mayinclude an HTTP method as well as a URI. The URI may include a resourcepath to a resource of a plurality of hierarchal computer resources(e.g., hardware resources and software resources) included in any one ofthe managed computing systems 208-212. A provider of the plurality ofproviders 412, 414, 416 may provide data of the resource identified inthe URI request in a REST based format.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a URI 600 that may be included in theURI request at block 502. In the illustrated embodiment, the URIincludes a transport scheme 602 (e.g., HTTP, HTTPS), a host name 604(e.g., dell.com), a service root 606 (e.g., redfish/v1), and a resourcepath 608. As would be understood by one of skill in the art inpossession of the present disclosure, the service root 606 is the entrypoint or root of the resource path 608, and the resource path 608 is theaddress for a resource. The plurality of hierarchal computer resourcesmay be linked from the service root 606, and any of those resources maybe configured to receive and process messages such as the URI request.In different embodiments, the resource may be either an individualentity, or a collection that acts as a container for several otherentities.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a resource map 700 of a plurality ofhierarchal computer resources that may be included in at least one ofthe managed computing systems 208-212. In the illustrated embodiment,the resource map 700 starts at the service root 702, which is linked toone or more first level collections (e.g., systems collections 704,chassis collections 706, and manager collections 708 in FIG. 7). Forexample, the systems collections 704 may include a plurality ofcomputing systems resources that roughly correspond to a logical view ofa managed computing system as seen from an operating system, andincludes resources need to run the managed computing systems. Similarly,the chassis collections 706 may include a plurality of chassis resourcesthat roughly correspond to a physical view of a managed computing systemas seen by a user. Similarly, the manager collections 708 may include aplurality of managers and the resources needed to perform administrativefunctions such as those of a system management subsystem such as abaseboard management controller. In an embodiment, the first levelcollections 704-708 each have one or more members which are resourceswithin a collection. For example, member 710 may be a specific computingdevice in the systems collections 704, member 712 may be a specificchassis in the chassis collections 706, and member 714 may be a specificcontroller in the manager collections 706. Furthermore, each of themembers 710-714 may be linked to one or more members in second levelcollections (e.g., processor collections 716, network interfacecontrollers (NICs) collections 718 and 730, disk drives collections 720,thermal resources collections 722, power resources collections 724, logcollections 726, and service collections 728 illustrated in FIG. 7).Furthermore, members of second level collections may include third levelcollections (e.g., VLANS collections 719 and 732 that are linked tomembers of NICs collections 718 and 730 respectively, and so on.Although specific collections are illustrated as first levelcollections, second level collections, and third level collections, oneskilled in the art will recognize that some collections may be atvarious levels within a hierarchy of the resource map 700 and somecollections may appear more than once within the hierarchy of theresource map 700.

Referring back to FIG. 6, the resource path 608 may provide an addressto a particular resource of the resource map 700. As illustrated, theresource path 608 may include a hierarchy of a plurality of collectionsstarting from the left of the URI to the right of the URI in the Figure.For example, resource path 608 includes a first collection 610, whichmay be the systems collections 704 discussed above in FIG. 7. A member612 (i.e., “HL3D942” in FIG. 6) of the first collection 610 may followthat first collection 610 and may identify a specific computing system.The resource path 608 also includes a second collection 614, which is asecond level collection to the first collection 610 and, in theillustrated embodiment, provides a collection of Ethernet interfaces(e.g., the NICs collections 718 discussed in FIG. 7). A member 616(e.g., “NIC.Slot.1” in FIG. 6) of the second collection 614 may followthat second collection 614 and may identify a specific Ethernetinterface. The resource path 608 also includes a third collection 618,which is a third level collection to the second collection 614 and, inthe illustrated embodiment, provides a collection of virtual local areanetworks (VLANs). A member 620 (e.g., “2” in FIG. 6) of the thirdcollection 618 may follow that third collection 618 and may identify aspecific VLAN. While a specific resource path 608 is illustrated anddescribed, one of skill in the art in possession of the presentdisclosure will recognize that resource paths may vary and includes avariety of different information while remaining within the scope of thepresent disclosure.

The method 500 then proceeds to block 504 where a last collection in thehierarchy of the plurality of collections that matches a first providerof a plurality of providers is determined. As discussed above, theplurality of providers 412-416 in the management engine 404 are includedin the server computing system 400 and are each configured to processthe URI request. In an embodiment, at block 504, the broker 410 of themanagement engine 404 may determine the last collection in the hierarchyof the plurality of collections in the URI request that matches aprovider of the providers 412-416. In an embodiment, to determine thelast collection in the hierarchy of the plurality of collections in theURI request that matches a provider, the broker 410 may scan theresource path (e.g., left to right, right to left, etc.) and match eachcollection in the hierarchy of collections defined by the resource pathto a respective provider of the plurality of providers 412-416 in themanagement engine 404. For example, the broker 410 may determine a setof providers configured to process each collection in the resource path,and the broker 410 may then map each collection in the resource path toa respective provider of the set of providers to generate acollection-to-provider map. In a specific example using the resourcepath 608 of FIG. 6, the broker 410 may generate a collection-to-providermapping that uses a greedy quantifier (e.g., “+” or “*” in thecollection-to-provider mapping). For example, a collection-to-providermapping of the URI 600 may include the following:

Systems, Systems/*:systemprovider

EthernetInterfaces, EthernetInerfaces/*:ethernetinterfaceprovider

VLANs, VLANs/*:vlanprovider In an embodiment, the “systemprovider”provider may be configured to process the first collection 610 ofsystems and all members of the first collection 610, the“ethernetinterfaceprovider” provider may be configured to process thesecond collection 614 of Ethernet interfaces and all members of thesecond collection 614, and the “vlanprovider” provider may be configuredprocess the third collection 618 of VLANs and all members of the thirdcollection 618.

The broker 410 loads a provider of the plurality of providers 412-416based on the URI received. Since the URI may include plurality of otherresource collections, it is important for the broker to load theappropriate provider to get the requested resource details. Using greedycharacters or traversing from left to right is a mechanism to loadappropriate provider based on the received URI. Also use of greedycharacters helps in modularizing the code at the providers. For example,if there is no such processing, as stated above, the systems providershould serve all collections (including Ethernet, VLANS), which createsproblem in modularizing the code and system provider has to validate theURI, which may increase the processing time. With introduction of agreedy character and parsing the URI from left to right, the broker 410can choose an appropriate provider, due to which the processing time ofthe request would decrease, as the appropriate provider of the pluralityof providers 412-416 is loaded and URI checks would be already validatedat the broker, hence avoiding to check the URI again at provider. If thegreedy character is not present, this would require whitelist of allURIs in the collection-to-provider mapping file. VLANS may exist onsystems resources and on managers resources. With help of hierarchicalURI parsing, the same provider can serve both requests for VLAN. Forexample VLAN provider will serve the URIs:

. . . /Systems/<id>/EthernetInterfaces/<id>/VLANS/<Id>and

. . . /Managers.<id>/EthernetInterfaces/<id>/VLANS/<Id>.

The collection-to-provider map may then be stored in the memory database406, and the broker 410 may then scan the resource path and match eachcollection and member to a provider (e.g., the providers in thecollection-to-provider map) until the last provider in the resource pathis found. For example, with reference to the resource path 608 of FIG.6, the broker 410 may begin the scan from the right of the resource path608 in the Figure and determine whether the member 620 (e.g., “2”) is acollection. Because “2” is not a collection, the broker 410 will move tothe left of the resource path 608 in the Figure to the next resource inthe resource path 608 which is the third collection 618 (e.g., VLANs).The broker 410 may then determine from the collection-to-provider mapthat the third collection 618 (e.g., VLANs) is a collection that ismapped to a provider(e.g., “vlansprovider”), and the broker 410 may alsodetermine that the VLANs/2 is the last collection in the resource path608 (i.e., because the broker 410 scanned the resource path from rightto left of the Figure (or from the end of the resource path 608 andtowards the beginning of the resource path 608, or from the last entryin the resource path 608 towards the first entry in the resource path608)). Next, the broker 410 may identify the collection (e.g., thirdcollection 618 “VLANs”) as the last collection in the hierarchy of theplurality of collections. For example, the broker 410 may check thestring(VLANs) against the entries in the collections to providermapping. If the string is matched, the broker 410 will load the VLANprovider.

The method 500 then proceeds to block 506 where the URI request isforwarded to a first provider that is associated with the lastcollection determined at block 504. In an embodiment, at block 506, thebroker 410 may forward the URI request to the provider matched to thelast collection in the hierarchy of the plurality of collections.Additionally, the broker 410 may forward a pointer to the lastcollection in the URI request to the provider matched to the lastcollection in the hierarchy of the plurality of collections. Continuingthe specific example using the URI request 600 of FIG. 6, the URIrequest that includes the URI 600 of FIG. 6 will be forwarded to theprovider “vlansprovider”, along with a pointer to the third collection618 (e.g., “VLANs”) in the resource path 608 (i.e., because VLANs is thelast collection in the resource path 608.)

The method 500 then proceeds to block 508 where the URI request isprocessed. In an embodiment, the first provider of the plurality ofproviders 412-416 that was matched to the last collection in thehierarchy of the plurality of collections processes the URI request. Thefirst provider may validate the identifiers of the URI to determinewhether a resource with such an identifier exists. For example, thefirst provider may be configured to validate the hierarchy of theplurality of collections included in the resource path. Furthermore, thefirst provider may be configured to validate that a first memberidentified in the last collection is contained within a second memberthat is identified in a second collection that is included in theresource path prior to the last collection in the hierarchy of theplurality of collections. For example, in FIG. 6 the “vlansprovider”provider may validate that member 620 (e.g., “2”) is a member of thethird collection 618 of VLANs., and may also validate the hierarchy ofthe plurality of collections in the resource path 608 to confirm thatsystem “HL3D942” includes an Ethernet interface “NIC.Slot.1” thatincludes a VLANs “2”.

The method 500 then proceeds to block 510 where a response to the URIrequest is received. The response received at block 510 may includeinformation about the first resource identified in the URI request thatwas determined by the processing of the URI request by the firstprovider. In an embodiment, block 510 may be dependent on the type ofURI request that was originally received. For example, if the URIrequest included a GET operation, a response may be generated by theresource identified in the URI and/or the server computing system 400and transmitted back to the client computing device 300. However, if theURI request included, for example, a POST operation, a response may notnecessarily be generated. In an embodiment, the server computing system400 may transmit the response to the client computing device 300 whichmay receive the response, and the response may include information thatwas requested. For example, a response to the URI request that includesthe URI 600 may include information about VLAN “2” that is included inthe Ethernet interface “NIC.Slot.1” that is included in system“HL3D942.”

Thus, systems and methods have been described that provide for aresource management system that routes and processes URI requests formanaged computing systems by determining the last collection in ahierarchy of a plurality of collections in a resource path included inthe URI request, and matching the last collection to a provider of aplurality of providers to process the URI request. Processing therequest using the provider matched to the last collection eliminates theneed for static mapping of hierarchical computing resources that isrequired to process the URI request from a “left to right” (or “first tolast”/“beginning to end”) manner. The methods and systems describedherein reduce the amount of memory and other system resources needed tostore and process complex static maps of the hierarchical resources inmanaged computing systems. Furthermore, one of skill in the art inpossession of the present disclosure will recognize how the methods andsystems are better equipped to handle dynamic members included in theplurality of collections.

Although illustrative embodiments have been shown and described, a widerange of modification, change and substitution is contemplated in theforegoing disclosure and in some instances, some features of theembodiments may be employed without a corresponding use of otherfeatures. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims beconstrued broadly and in a manner consistent with the scope of theembodiments disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A resource management system, comprising: at least one managed computing system including a plurality of hierarchal computer resources; and a server computing system that is coupled to the at least one managed computing system through a network and that includes a broker in communication with a plurality of providers, wherein the broker is configured to: receive a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) request for a first resource of the plurality of hierarchal computer resources included in the at least one managed computing system, wherein the URI request includes a resource path that identifies the first resource by a hierarchy of a plurality of collections; determine a last collection in the hierarchy of the plurality of collections that matches a first provider of the plurality of providers; and forward the request directly to the first provider such that the first provider processes the URI request.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first provider is configured to validate the hierarchy of the plurality of collections included in the resource path.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the first provider is configured to validate that a first member identified in the last collection is contained within a second member identified in a second collection that is previous to the last collection in the hierarchy of the plurality of collections.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the server computing device includes at least one database that maps each collection in the hierarchy of the plurality of collections to a provider of the plurality of providers.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the processing the URI request by the first provider includes processing the entire resource path included in the URI request.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the determining the last collection in the hierarchy of the plurality of collections that matches the first provider of the plurality of providers includes the broker: scanning the resource path; matching each collection in the hierarchy of the plurality of collections to a respective provider of the plurality of providers; and generating a pointer to the last collection in the hierarchy of the plurality of collections.
 7. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a client computing system that is configured to: transmit the URI request to the server computing system; and receive, from the server computing system, a response that includes information about the first resource identified in the URI request that is determined by the processing of the URI request by the first provider.
 8. An Information Handling System (IHS), comprising: a communication system; a processing system that is coupled to the communication system; and a memory system that is coupled to the processing system and that includes instructions that, when executed by the processing system, cause the processing system to provide a management engine that includes a broker and a plurality of providers, wherein the broker is configured to: receive a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) request for a first resource of a plurality of hierarchal computer resources included in the at least one managed computing system, wherein the URI request includes a resource path that identifies the first resource by a hierarchy of a plurality of collections; determine a last collection in the hierarchy of the plurality of collections that matches a first provider of the plurality of providers; and forward the request directly to the first provider such that the first provider processes the URI request.
 9. The IHS of claim 8, wherein the first provider is configured to validate the hierarchy of the resource path.
 10. The IHS of claim 8, wherein the first provider is configured to validate that a first member identified in the last collection is contained within a second member identified in a second collection that is previous to the last collection in the hierarchy of the plurality of collections.
 11. The IHS of claim 8, further comprising a database that maps each collection in the hierarchy of the plurality of collections to a provider of the plurality of providers.
 12. The IHS of claim 8, wherein the processing the URI request by the first provider includes processing the entire resource path included in the URI request.
 13. The IHS of claim 8, wherein the determining the last collection in the hierarchy of the plurality of collections that matches the first provider of the plurality of provider includes the broker: scanning the resource path; matching each collection in the hierarchy of the plurality of collections to a respective provider of the plurality of providers; and generating a pointer to the last collection in the hierarchy of the plurality of collections.
 14. The IHS of claim 8, wherein the processing the URI request by the first provider includes the first provider: determining information about the first resource; and transmitting the information to a client computing system that made the URI request.
 15. A method for managing a plurality of resources of at least one managed computing system, comprising: receiving, by a broker in a server computing system, a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) request for a first resource of a plurality of hierarchal computer resources included in at least one managed computing system, wherein the URI request includes a resource path that identifies the first resource by a hierarchy of a plurality of collections; determining, by the broker in the server computing system, a last collection in the hierarchy of the plurality of collections that matches a first provider of a plurality of providers that are included in the server computing system and that are each configured to process the URI request; and forwarding, by the broker in the server computing system, the URI request to the first provider such that the first provider processes the request.
 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising determining a set of providers based on the collections in the resource path.
 17. The method of claim 15, further comprising associating each collection in the hierarchy of the plurality of collections to a provider of the plurality of providers.
 18. The method of claim 15, wherein determining, by the broker in the server computing system, the last collection in the hierarchy of the plurality of collections that matches a first provider of a plurality of providers that are included in the server computing system and that are each configured to process the URI request includes the broker: scanning the resource path; matching each collection in the hierarchy of the plurality of collections to a respective provider of the plurality of providers; and generating a pointer to the last collection in the hierarchy of the plurality of collections.
 19. The method of claim 15, wherein determining, by the broker in the server computing system, the last collection in the hierarchy of the plurality of collections that matches a first provider of a plurality of providers that are included in the server computing system and that are each configured to process the URI request includes the broker: determining a set of providers in the resource path; scanning the resource path from the end of the resource path to the beginning of the first resource path until a collection is found; matching the collection to a provider of the set of the providers; and establishing the collection that matches a provider of the set of the providers as the last collection.
 20. The method of claim 15, further comprising: receiving, by the broker in the server computing system, information about the first resource from the first provider that processed the request; and transmitting, by the broker in the server computing system, the information to a client computing system that made the request. 